5-year-old girl shot in West Baltimore months after 7-year-old sister was shot dead

By Christina Tkacik

|The Baltimore Sun|

Nov 20, 2018 | 2:35 AM

A 5-year-old girl injured in a shooting Monday evening in West Baltimore remained in a hospital in serious but stable condition Tuesday morning, police said.

By a stunning and tragic coincidence, Amy Hayes is the younger sister of Taylor Hayes, a 7-year-old child who was fatally shot in July, according to two sources with knowledge of the situation. Taylor was shot this summer while sitting in the back seat of a car in Southwest Baltimore. She died two weeks later.

On Monday, neighbor Doretha Carpenter said she had ducked for cover in her home when she heard the shots fired on her block — about six of them. It wasn’t until she came outside that she learned the girl, who is also her godchild, had been injured.

“I saw her doll baby in the street,” Carpenter said.

Amy Hayes seen with Santa (Family photo)

After being shot in the groin, Amy dropped the baby doll and the money she was carrying. The items remained on the street as detectives combed the scene for evidence an hour later.

Police said the child was alert and talking to doctors as she went into surgery. By about 9 p.m. Monday, she emerged from the operating room and was expected to survive, police said.

The area sees a significant portion of the city’s crime. So far this year, 38 of 278 total homicides — around 14 percent — in Baltimore this year have been reported in the 21217 ZIP code, which encompasses Sandtown-Winchester.